Much Ado About Nothing
Chapter
Three
"Here you go," Brooke said to Val as she walked up and dumped a script into hands that automatically caught it. Val opened it and looked at the blue highlighter streaks across Juliet's lines as Tyler got his script and opened it accordingly.
"We notated your lines,"
Brooke informed them both. Tyler nodded and ran his finger across a neon green
line. "If you want un-notated versions, talk to Mr. Edwards. I've got to find
Gregory Martin." She walked off, handing scripts out to people along the way.
"Well," Val said, "I guess
she's really taking this to heart."
"You think?" Tyler asked. Val rolled her eyes at him and opened the script to the prologue.
"From two households of
equal dignity/In fair Verona, where we lay our scene/From ancient grudge to
break new mutiny/And civil blood makes civil hands unclean…"
"From forth the fatal loins
of these two foes/A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life/Whole
misadventured piteous overthrows/Do with their death bury their parents'
strife," continued Tyler, not reading the script. "Remember, Mrs. Wallow made
us memorize it freshman year?"
"Yeah, well, I can't go back
that far," Val said with a laugh. "What scene are we doing today?"
"Act 1, Scene 5," Tyler
answered absentmindedly. "I think Mr. Edwards said to rehearse a little."
"Great!" Val flipped through
the electrically blue text until she got to the right page. Biting her lip and
running a finger across the page, a blond lock fell in front of her face and
swung for a moment, before Val tucked it behind her ear.
"Good pilgrim, you do wrong
your hand too much/Which mannerly devotion shows in this;/For saints have hands
that pilgrims' hands do touch/And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss."
"Have not saints lips, and
holy palmers too?" Tyler had a distinct feeling where this was going and
suddenly regretted having chosen Twelfth Night over Romeo and Juliet
when he had had to choose a Shakespearean work when he was a freshman and his
teacher was obsessive about Shakespeare. It might have at least told him when
he had do kiss Val, because he certainly wasn't ready for it now.
"Ay, pilgrim, lips that they
must use in prayer," Val said. Her breath was becoming short in her chest as
her throat became dry—below, just a few lines below where it said 'they kiss'
in plain letters.
"O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do/They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair."
Tyler and Val looked up
simultaneously and met each other's eyes, slowly leaning forward…
"Hi!" Brooke's voice startled
Tyler and Val, and they jumped back, pretending that absolutely nothing was
about to happen. Brooke received a subtle glare from Tyler, and a much less
subtle one from Val.
"What now?" Val's voice held
a tang of anger, but Brooke didn't notice. Tyler, however, did, and cast an
inquiring look at her.
"Right, Mr. Edwards wants
you up on stage to rehearse Act 1, Scene 5. Bye!" She scampered off.
"But, Brooke! I don't think
we're ready for Scene 5! Maybe we should do Scene… 3!" But Val's protest seemed
to come too late, as Brooke was already talking to Gregory Martin. Val and
Tyler climbed the makeshift stairs to the stage, where a few groups were
rehearsing lines. Mr. Edwards came over to them and dragged them forward,
chattering. Tyler and Val cast helpless glances at each other as he planted
them in a clear spot.
"If I profane… with my
unworthiest hand…/This holy shrine, the gentle… fine is this…" Tyler was
halting in his words, nervous as a human being could be (and maybe more than
that) over upcoming revolutions. His thoughts quickly argued their points. Well,
I do like Val… and it would be nice to kiss her… but not NOW! That would
work for an argument as his mind screamed the last word. He still hadn't solved
his predicament, but oh well.
"Tyler?" Mr. Edwards asked.
"Yeah?" Tyler knew what he
was about to say.
"More feeling. Don't
hesitate—just do what you were doing at the auditions."
"Sure," Tyler agreed. He
felt a little sick to his stomach… would a doctor's visit work for an excuse?
Val would never buy it, but…
"Start again."
"If I profane with my
unworthiest hand/This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this…" Tyler's words
flowed smoothly now. A revelation had unconsciously occurred to him—Val would
be so disappointed if he quit, if he didn't try, if he couldn't. "My lips, two
blushing pilgrims, ready stand/To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."
"Good pilgrim, you do wrong
your hand too much/Which mannerly devotion shows in this…"
The next few lines went
smoothly, easily, both of them trying not to realize that they'd be kissing
each other in just a few minutes.
"Then move not, while my
prayer's effect I take," Tyler whispered, his drama voice dwindling into a
breath of air.
Their lips moved towards
each other slowly as the role-playing ended and they were left with cold
reality once more…
For the second time in ten
minutes, they were interrupted a hair's breadth from each other as the lights
went out in the auditorium. Screams and shrieks were audible—the high windows
shed shafts of light, but not strong ones, and not many. The light held the
room in an eerie darkness with halos floating from the cloudy day outside. Val
stumbled back, surprised from the sudden fall of night, and tripped on a box of
props.
"Ouch," she moaned as she
landed on the wooden stage. But Val had realized something—she knew exactly who
was behind this prank.
*
"Jamie,
I don't think that's the right button," Caitie told the said young man, who was
frustrated with the switches—he had counted thirty-six on one panel alone—after
twenty minutes of trying to label them. Mr. Edwards had said they could
experiment a little, just as long as it didn't disturb the actors, and they had
figured it would take them forever, so they might as well get a head start.
"None
of them are the right button," Jamie complained, running a hand through his
hair and trying not to yell. "They're all the wrong one!"
"Well,
we have… how many figured out?" Caitie was trying to be practical, but
practical was never exactly easy for her.
"Thirteen,"
Jamie informed her dryly. "Thirteen out of thirty-six."
"Right."
This was not going as well as she had originally planned.
"I'm
just going to pick one and punch it and see what it does," said Jamie, annoyed.
"No,
Ja—"
He
punched a red button. Instant blackout. Silence for a moment, then, Jamie—
"Well,
now we know what that one does."
*
Brooke was actually having fun
when the lights went out. She started running around, getting people in order,
telling them where to go, saying everything was under control, and—for
once—everyone listened to her, because she had a flashlight. Brooke had been
going through the old drama club boxes, seeing what was useable, when she found
a flashlight. Then the lights had gone out, and miraculously, the batteries in
the light still worked.
"If
you want to sit down, everything will be working again in a few minutes,"
Brooke told the person in front of her, tapping his back. He turned around.
"It's
okay, Brooke," Hank said, "there's no rush, as long as everyone stays calm. And
I'll turn in my paperwork at the station, thanks." Brooke cast him a dirty look
before running off again.
Hank
had been reading the script over the night before, and decided he liked
Mercutio. There was this doubt, though, in the back of his head, that he couldn't
play him. It was dispelled when he argued that Mr. Edwards wouldn't have chosen
him unless he could play the part.
But
doubts should be listened to more carefully.
*
Here in the dark
Alone, so alone
I feel your arms around me
Ready to carry me home
And darkness set a long
while ago
But for me it's still light
outside
And the only time I'll ever
be unsure
Is when tears fall from your
eyes
I said dark is here to stay
And you and me
Can't wait another day
So let me find your heart
Dark is here to stay
And you and me
Will be here for another day
So open up your heart
Darkness falls
And I'm not sure what's
wrong
Darkness brings a light
How could it have taken me
so long
Dark is here to stay
But I won't wait another day
For it to go away
Carry me home and say
Tell me you love me
The way I love you
Darkness opens hidden depths
Of unseen ocean blue
Dark is here to stay
And you and me
Can't wait another day
So show me the way to your
heart
*
Tyler felt Val's hand close around his as he helped her up. The lights came back on, and soon the auditorium was blinking to get used to the sudden light. In the midst of the crowd, Brooke turned off her flashlight.
Jamie and Caitie had escaped from the scene of the crime, and Val was sure on interrogation they would simply say they had bumped it and face a week of detention. That was what Jamie and Caitie did, the kind of thing they'd always do.
"Come back Wednesday," Mr. Edwards said half-heartedly, like he was tired and just wanted this to go well, a final wish before chaos took over the play. "We'll finish Scene 5."
Tyler and Val cast glances at each other. It was Monday. Almost two days to figure out how exactly the world worked and how exactly the borderline of friendship was to be crossed.
NEXT CHAPTER:
Hank's role is not all that it seems when his tentative doubts are confirmed. Jamie and Caitie decide between having dignity and getting out of trouble when they need help, and Brooke gets into an awkward place when Mr. Edwards calls in sick. Speaking of awkwardness, Val and Tyler decide just how far they'll go into the role—and realize that they were never acting. Discussions arise between them, and discussions reveal hidden secrets and show them how to face the facts.
*Well, all right, maybe my chapter summaries need work, but hey! I'm young and naïve!*
REVIEW!
~Ivy Leaves